The plea from retired distance runner Mr Kemoy Campbell for athletes to be “careful” about their health as they take part in competition in this COVID-19 era is an aspect to be considered as thought is given to the planned Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. Yesterday’s edition of this newspaper recalls that Mr Campbell collapsed while competing in New York in 2019.

Mr Campbell tells us that he has a life-threatening heart disease which has meant he must use a (heart) pacemaker for the rest of his life. He clearly believes he developed the problem primarily because he competed while struggling with influenza.

He erroneously thought that, though he had flu symptoms, his status as a physically fit athlete would protect him from health complications.

So now, Mr Campbell is advising athletes to bear in mind that COVID-19 is “not a joke. I got the flu, and the flu end up giving me heart issues. So, if you think that, ‘Yeah, you are more powerful than the average virus…’ just be careful; that’s all I am saying…”

Of course, we are already familiar with sportsmen and sportswomen avoiding competition because of fears about COVID-19. Only recently we saw Cricket West Indies being forced to send weakened Limited Overs and Test match teams to Bangladesh after 10 first-choice players opted out of the tour.

There has been a lot said and written about the administrative headaches in organising the Olympics, which is by far the biggest event in terms of participation on the sporting calendar — already postponed from last year because of the pandemic. But, also, we can’t ignore the danger that even if spectators are barred, as seems very likely, the Olympics could become a so-called super-spreader of the novel coronavirus, because tens of thousands of athletes, support staff, volunteers, officials, et al will be in attendance.

That, no doubt, is one reason polls show an estimated 80 per cent and more of the Japanese people want the Olympics postponed until the pandemic is brought under control, or scrapped.

We note reports that Olympic organisers have now published a document outlining a raft of antivirus measures which will be mandatory for those in the Olympic Village and related areas.

But putting biosecure arrangements in place for such a large number of people is a huge — some say impossible — undertaking.

And what of vaccines? Many countries are quite rightly prioritising vaccination programmes for health workers and those considered most vulnerable before offering to perceived low-risk groups such as athletes. Also, there is likely to be pronounced inequalities in the actual execution of such programmes since rich, developed countries are way down the road, compared to others.

Given all the above circumstances, some top athletes — who have already, and are continuing to make sacrifices to get themselves ready — may well decide that they are better off missing the upcoming Olympic Games. We feel for those who may end up making that hard choice.